CVE-2025-40303

EPSS 0.0%
  • Published: 2025-12-08T01:16:02.440

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

btrfs: ensure no dirty metadata is written back for an fs with errors

[BUG]
During development of a minor feature (make sure all btrfs_bio::end_io()
is called in task context), I noticed a crash in generic/388, where
metadata writes triggered new works after btrfs_stop_all_workers().

It turns out that it can even happen without any code modification, just
using RAID5 for metadata and the same workload from generic/388 is going
to trigger the use-after-free.

[CAUSE]
If btrfs hits an error, the fs is marked as error, no new
transaction is allowed thus metadata is in a frozen state.

But there are some metadata modifications before that error, and they are
still in the btree inode page cache.

Since there will be no real transaction commit, all those dirty folios
are just kept as is in the page cache, and they can not be invalidated
by invalidate_inode_pages2() call inside close_ctree(), because they are
dirty.

And finally after btrfs_stop_all_workers(), we call iput() on btree
inode, which triggers writeback of those dirty metadata.

And if the fs is using RAID56 metadata, this will trigger RMW and queue
new works into rmw_workers, which is already stopped, causing warning
from queue_work() and use-after-free.

[FIX]
Add a special handling for write_one_eb(), that if the fs is already in
an error state, immediately mark the bbio as failure, instead of really
submitting them.

Then during close_ctree(), iput() will just discard all those dirty
tree blocks without really writing them back, thus no more new jobs for
already stopped-and-freed workqueues.

The extra discard in write_one_eb() also acts as an extra safenet.
E.g. the transaction abort is triggered by some extent/free space
tree corruptions, and since extent/free space tree is already corrupted
some tree blocks may be allocated where they shouldn’t be (overwriting
existing tree blocks). In that case writing them back will further
corrupting the fs.

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

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How to fix CVE-2025-40303

CVE-2025-40303 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: ensure no dirty metadata is written back for an fs with errors [BUG] During development of a minor feature (make sure all btrfs_bio::end_io() is called in task context), I noticed a crash in generic/388, where metadata writes triggered new works after btrfs_stop_all_workers(). It turns […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Dec 08, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Dec 08, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.